Preqin is a privately held London-based investment data company that provides financial data and insight on the alternative assets market, as well as tools to support investment in alternatives. By the company's own definition, its data encompasses private capital and hedge funds, including fund, fund manager, investor, performance and deal information. The asset classes it covers are: private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and secondaries. Preqin launched as ‘Private Equity Intelligence’ in 2003. Founded by Mark O’Hare and Nick Arnott, it began by listing private equity performance data, relying on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). As the company expanded it began to collect data for more asset classes, and it now covers private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and secondaries. It gets most of its data from voluntary contributions and direct contact with market participants. In August 2021, Preqin fully acquired Colmore, a leading private markets technology, services and administration business. Preqin won The Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2016 and 2019, was a national winner at the 2019 European Business Awards, and was named as part of the Sunday Times International Track 200 in the same year. Preqin provides data on fundraising, investors, performance, dry powder, AUM and deal flow, as well as information on compensation, fund terms and employment. It publishes research reports that draw from its data and include contributions from alternative investment professionals, as well as Preqin subject experts. In 2018 the business launched a research report titled Women in Alternatives, which detailed underrepresentation of women in the alternative assets industry. Preqin is headquartered in London, and has offices in numerous other international locations: Birmingham, New York City, Dallas, Singapore, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Chicago, Tokyo, Sydney, Dubai, Bangalore, Manila and Guangzhou.